Technology Blog

National Research Council and Business Development Bank Partner to Support Canadian Tech Businesses

Andrew Patel
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This month, a new partnership was announced between the National Research Council’s (“NRC”) Industrial Research Assistance Program (“IRAP”) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (“BDC”) to better assist Canadian technology companies. The partnership will give existing IRAP clients access to BDC loans starting at CAD$100,000. Michael Denham, president and CEO of BDC, outlined that the impetus of the partnership is to “help Canadian entrepreneurs accelerate the commercialization of ground-breaking products, scale, and compete on the global market”.

To be eligible for the program, companies must:

  • be an active IRAP client;
  • meet a minimum sales volume requirement of CAD$500,000 in their most recent year-end; and
  • operate in the information and communications technology (or related) sector.

Companies applying to the program must also engage in a due diligence and credit approval process. Approved companies will be able to access “exclusive financing conditions” from BDC.

With many small and medium-sized technology companies struggling to adjust to the economic uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, this partnership program aims to provide an effective opportunity to help companies grow, build capacity, and market their ideas. The partnership builds on existing financing programs offered by both IRAP and the BDC aimed at supporting companies affected by the pandemic, including BDC’s financing bridge program and IRAP’s innovation assistance program. As Roger Scott-Douglas, acting president of the NRC, stated, “by partnering … we are increasing support for innovative companies at a time when it is needed most”.

Author: Andrew Patel

Photo Credit: https://unsplash.com/@homajob

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